What is with Case Knives QC?

Lol, I know what you mean. I grew up the son of a knife maker and I have been making them myself for over twenty years. I am still not a pro and a rough riderish example also occasionally sees the light of day in the shop. :) I usually pass those along to my father to unbutcher. Probably one of the reasons I primarily stay in the realm of fixed blades. Although sometimes aggravating, not nearly as much as folders.
 
knifeswapper said:
If you can't stand blade rub; stay away from the 3/4 blade models. They don't all have it, but you are betting against the smart money.
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Except for the Case knives patterned after Bose designs. The Sowbelly and Humpback stockman knives have offset blades and do not rub.

I have about 30 stockman knives. The only knives with significant blade rub are Case knives. I have a couple of Case knives which are impossible for me to open without the blades rubbing, which I consider objectionable. Others rub only if I am careless, and I am OK with that.

My other stockman knives that rub, rub so little that I have to study them to see if it happens. It just is not noticeable in normal use. And I have a fair number that don't rub at all, including a Taylor-Schrade made in China.
 
I've enjoyed my yellow Medium with the punch so much that I recently ordered another one, only in bone. I wish rub was all it was with mine. Once the punch is open it won't close at all, it gets stuck on the sheeps. Not until you open the sheep can the punch close. Just went back. Not here to bash, in fact I've only purchased about 8 Case knives and this is the second to go back. A couple with wimpy action, but otherwise all right.
 
That thing is worth keeping just because it's so delightfully ugly. Wow!


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I have several Case stockman knives, and none of them have rub like that. In fact I consider the stockman one of their 'good' patterns that is usually well-made.
That color is unfortunate.
The upside down shield is just funny.
 
Thanks to the OP for posting the pix.

I'd be outraged to get a knife like that, just poor all round, very.:barf:

Here's what it ought to be like and I hope you get one to be pleased with as I enjoy many of my CASE knives.

IMG_3100.jpg


Regards, Will
 
I've had pretty good luck with Case knives more recently. Even the bargain ones I got on closeout recently at a big box have been very good. I have been fairly critical in the recent past, however.

Blade rub under those conditions would be tough to eliminate. The blades are just nested so tightly. Things like upside down shields, however, are unacceptable.
 
I have some relatively recently manufactured Case knives that don't have blade rub (including a 63090 medium stockman with a Duck's Unlimited shield) and some that do (including a 62131 canoe with "William Russell Case" blade etch and shield). The edge grind on the canoe's smaller pen blade was also at too low an angle and widened toward the tang. I liked the root-beer colored covers so much, though, that I bought it anyway. It's one of my most-carried user knives.

The build quality of Case knives likely depends on a number of factors such on time of year, the shift that made it, and any management-related stresses that might be occurring. It's a little hard to believe that your messed-up knife passed through the hafter's hands and final QC inspection before packaging.

It's a real disappointing thing to see a poorly made Case knife. Unless you want to keep the upside-down shield and funky color as a "rare factory-error collectible" it would be best to send it back to the retailer for a refund or exchange.
 
Case QC - I dunno, man. Their markethe, from what I've read, is similar to GEC's in that it's mainly collectors, and if they're betting that the knife is more likely to sit in a box or a display case for most or all of it's life, or be used and possibly abused and just meant to cut stuff, that knife you posted is probably the result of someone's off day. We all have those, and when we do, I think we're all probably glad that we don't loose our livelihood over it.

I have owned 5 Case knives. 4 of those 5 were finished just as nicely as any GEC I've seen. The 5th wasn't far off, either, and I've seen a GEC worse than that one. One of those knives I would put in the running for "Just As Nice As A TC". Comparatively, I've seen more Queen made knives that had worse quality than the knife you posted than I've seen Queen knives that were to my standard.

My answer to the QC question - it's brand karma.
 
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